


Whatever You Say, Gwanda

by Fliggy



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: 150 words each, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fluff, IT'S JUST FLUFF OKAY, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, they help each other with homework
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2019-09-29 18:03:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17208266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fliggy/pseuds/Fliggy
Summary: “Ugh, whatever, Spider-Boy,” Gwen said. She snatched the sheet of paper from him. “Ew, wait, is this trig?”----In which Miles asks Gwen for homework help and they form a study group (and Peter B. Parker hangs out too but is just a total nuisance). Posted in the form of 150 word drabbles, 4 per chapter.





	1. The Studying Commences

“You called me over all the way over from another dimension… to help you with your _math_ homework?” The disbelief in Gwen’s voice was reaching precipitous levels. One of her eyebrows was arched so high it was merging with her hairline.

Miles fidgeted nervously, a single sheet of paper held loose in his hand. “I mean, you’re really good at math, and this worksheet is kinda hard, so… yeah?”

“Ugh, whatever, Spider-Boy,” Gwen said. She snatched the sheet of paper from him. “Ew, wait, is this trig?”

“Yeah.”

“Trig sucks.”

“I know, right?”

“Hm.” She pursed her lips and looked down at the paper. Terrifying flashbacks of math class beckoned. Functions, sines and cosines, swam in her vision. “Actually, you wanna go bother Spider-Noir instead?”

“Um, sure, I guess. And you’ll help me with trig afterwards?”

“Yeah,” Gwen said in a nonchalant tone of voice. “I mean, totally.”

 

* * *

 

“Oh, well, isn’t that convenient.” Miles said, seemingly not even trying to keep the smugness out of his voice. “After all that complaining about trigonometry, now you want _my_ help on _your_ homework.”

“You owe me one!” Gwen insisted.

“Owe you one? You didn’t even help me! We just went to Spider-Noir’s dimension and watched him beat up some Nazis. I got a C on that worksheet!”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You gonna help or not?”

“Fine,” Miles said. “What subject is it?”

“Chemistry.”

“Chemistry? I can help you with chemistry.” He suddenly had a huge grin on his face.

“Uh…” she squinted at him. “Okay… cool?”

“What do you need help with? Electron bonding? Or…” he waggled his eyebrows. “…the laws of attraction?”

“Ugh.” She felt herself blushing. “You’re the worst, you know that, right? Um, but, actually. It is a worksheet on the properties of covalence bonding…”

 

* * *

 

The Spider-gang had decided to form a study group, although Miles and Gwen were the only ones who actually did any studying together. Peni chilled with them, but her school topics were weird things like “Cybernetics” and “Neural A.I.” and other things of that nature.

Peter showed up occasionally claiming to be studying for the LSAT, because he was going to “pass the bar exam” and “become a lawyer” so that he could “impress his ex-wife with his day job” and “win her back” and etc., etc. Really what that meant was: he ate fast food, occasionally flipped through an LSAT guide, and mostly distracted the rest of them by asking random questions like ‘if dolphins were people… what would their favorite pasta be?’”

Spider-Noir had cordially declined, claiming that “school’s all part of the system,” and Spider-Ham was finished with studying—it turned out he already had a PhD.

 

* * *

 

Miles had a particular expression he made when he was trying to solve a homework problem. His entire face puckered up, his eyes squinted, his lips retreated into a thin faint line, and he put his hands on the side of his head and just _confronted_ the question that’d been assigned to him.

He was making this exact expression now as he looked at question 6.b on his math worksheet.

“Holy crap, you’re cute,” Gwen muttered under her breath.

“What?” He turned to look at her.

“Uh…. nothing!” She had _not_ meant to say that out loud.

“You just said ‘you’re cute.’”

“Oh my gosh, get over yourself. I did not say that.”

“I have super hearing, that’s definitely what you said.”

Gwen’s head spun frantically. “I was just saying… uh…. your cue…” she stammered. “…like, it’s your cue to do something?”

He snorted. “Mhmm. Sure. Whatever you say, Gwanda.”


	2. Sliced Papaya

Miles, Gwen, and Peter B. were studying in Miles’s living room, when Miles’s mom, Rio Morales, suddenly popped her head around the corner. “Hey! You guys hungry? I have sandwiches and some sliced papaya.”

“Oh my gosh, that would be lovely Ms. Davis!” said Gwen. She beamed at Rio.

Rio beamed back. “Okay, I’ll grab it from the kitchen!”

“Ugh, can you not,” Miles said.

“But your mom is literally the best!” Gwen said.

“That’s true,” said Peter. “I come here for the treats.”

Rio came strolling back in with two plates, singing “Food foooorrrr _mi amooooorrrs_. Eat up, eat up! Actually, Miles… can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Uh, sure, Mom.” Miles followed her into the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

“It’s about your friend, Peter B. Your dad and I… we’re not sure he’s such a good influence for you.” She pursed her lips. “He seems harmless enough, but… Miles, he’s so _lazy_.”

“What? He’s not that lazy.”

“ _Mijo_ , he’s spent the last three hours on the couch listening to Cotton-Eye Joe on repeat.”

“Okay, so maybe he is a bit lazy,” Miles admitted. “But he’s a great guy.”

His mom sighed. “You know how your father is. He wants you to have good role models.”

Miles thought for a second. “Well… what about bad role models? So I know what not to do.”

“What not to do?”

“Yeah… so I don’t eat too much pizza and listen to rap music, or I’ll end up like him.”

“Oh, my child, you are so smart,” Rio said, hugging him. “That makes sense.” She pulled back and winked. “What _not_ to do.”

“Yep.” As his mom bustled off, Miles turned and wandered back into the living room. “Hey, Peter,” he called. “You’ll never guess what my mom just said.”

 

* * *

 

“Man, having a police officer dad can be the worst sometimes,” Miles grumbled.

“I know, right?” said Gwen.

Miles blinked. “Wait, your dad’s on the force too?”

“Yeah! Guess I never told you,” Gwen said. “Hey, let’s go meet him!”

“Wait, hold on, wha—” and then Gwen grabbed his shoulder and activated the device in her suit. They landed in Gwen’s universe with a _thump_.

“I told you to give me a warning before you hop dimensions,” Miles said, dusting himself off.

“You’re so grumpy today,” Gwen said. “Come on, let’s go to the police station. Be cool though, he doesn’t know I’m Spider-Woman.” She laughed. “And he doesn’t know you’re Spider-Boy.”

“Um, it’s Spider- _Man_ , thank you very much.”

“Oh yeah?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Miles put his arms up and flexed his biceps.

He glanced at Gwen. She was trying not to laugh.

“…whatever, Gwanda,” he muttered.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, so I learned Gwen is short for Gwendolyne,” Miles said.

“Mhm.”

He chuckled. “That’s such a… like… I don’t know. Regal name.”

Gwen sighed. “I kind of hate it, to be honest. My full name is Gwendolyne Maxine Morales.”

There was a pause.

Miles squinted. “Your last name is Morales?”

Gwen squinted back in confusion. Then it dawned on her. “Oh my god!” she screamed. “I meant Stacy! Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy! Morales is your last name!”

“Why were you thinking about my last name?” Miles asked suspiciously.

“No reason!” Gwen cried. “Just one of those dumb accidents! You know!” She grabbed a textbook and buried her head in it, desperately avoiding eye contact.

Another long pause.

She flipped a page in her textbook.

“My full name is Miles Gonzalo Morales, by the way.”

“Mhm. Very interesting,” she replied, and then the awkwardness was too much and she hopped dimensions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so the drabble with Miles's mom ended up being the length of two drabbles instead of just one, but she's too awesome to limit to 150 words


	3. Junk Food

It had been a long day of fighting bad guys. After a prison break in Miles’s dimension, he’d needed Gwen’s help wrangling the escaped villains. By the time it was over, Miles and Gwen were both exhausted… and hungry. The problem? It was 3am, and the only place open nearby was McDonald’s.

So, that’s where they went.

As they walked through the door, Miles had a sudden moment of inspiration. “Hey, Gwen,” he said, as innocently as possible. “What did the Spider-Man from the Fast Food dimension say to his customer?”

She blinked. “Uh… I don’t really understand the—”

“’Ya want flies with that?’”

A long pause.

She stared at Miles.

He stared at her.

“That was the joke?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“I think that was the worst joke I’ve heard in my entire life.”

“Aw, come on.”

“You’re banned.”

“…banned from where?”

“I don’t know, but you’re banned.”

 

* * *

 

 _so that was a pretty good joke, right?_   Miles texted Peter, while Gwen ruffled through her Happy Meal opposite the table from him. “I’m telling Peter the joke,” he informed her.

She rolled her eyes. “Go for it.”

A few seconds passed while his text message beamed across dimensions. (Thanks to Peni, they now had interdimensional texting.) His phone vibrated as Peter messaged back.

_yeah, not bad kid. I give it a b+_

“See!” Miles cried, showing Gwen the phone screen triumphantly. His fingers dashed across his flip phone’s keyboard as he typed a follow-up.

_guess what Gwen said_

_idk what_

_she said it was the worst joke she’s ever heard in her entire life_

A long pause, as Miles held his breath and stared at the screen.

Finally, his phone buzzed with a reply.

_lol gwen savage_

_dude, come on!!!!!_ Miles texted. _you’re supposed to be on my side_

* * *

 

“Well, I guess this is it for now,” Miles said, as they sat on the rooftop of a skyscraper, legs dangling. The night-lit skyline of New York yawned out beneath them. “See you later, Gwen.”

“See you later,” Gwen said. She hesitated, then added: “Spider-Dork.”

He grinned. “Spider-Dork? That’s a new one.”

“Yeah, well.” She pushed the hair back from her eyes. “I think you’ve moved on from being just Spider-Boy.”

“I can live with that,” he said, smiling.

She smiled back, and Miles felt his heartrate triple.

 “Did someone say… SPIDER-PORK???!?” screamed Spider-Ham, emerging from literally nowhere. Both Miles and Gwen shrieked at the top of their lungs.

Spider-Ham hesitated. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting a moment?”

“Yes! And—how…” Miles stammered. “Spider-Ham, how did you even get here?”

“The force of comedic timing transports me instantly across dimensions,” Spider-Ham explained. “One of my superpowers… it’s a curse, really.”

 

* * *

 

A few days later, the whole gang was relaxing in the Morales household living room, when suddenly Peter B. stood up with a cheesy grin, grabbed Spider-Ham, and flipped him upside down.

“What the!” Spider-Ham squealed.

“Hold on a second buddy, this important,” Peter B. said. He held Spider-Ham up to the ceiling and started to sing. “Spider-pig. Spider-pig. Does whatever a spider-pig does.”

“Friend. Friend! What are you doing?” Spider-Ham asked in alarm, as Peter walked him across the ceiling.

Peter ignored him, continuing. “Can he swing. From a web. No, he can’t. He’s a pig. Look oooooooooout. He’s the… spider-pig.”

“I can very much swing from a web, thank you! And I insist that you unhand me! This is pigscrimination!”

Miles’s mother, Rio, chose that moment to walk into the living room. “Miles, have you seen the _—¡dios mío!_ How did the pig tracks get on the ceiling?”


	4. Spider-Yoda

Miles sighed and glanced at his watch. His dad had said he’d pick him up from school today, but he was late. _Should I just walk home, or does he want me to wait for him?_ Miles wondered. _Man, despite all my superpowers I’m still stuck in this unsolvable dilemma._

Honk honk. “Hey, kid!” a familiar voice shouted.

 “Peter?” It was Peter B. Parker, parked in a grey sedan.

“Hey, yeah, I’m here to pick you up!”

“What? How??”

“Your mom called. Said your dad wouldn’t be able to make it, something at the station.”

Miles opened the door and slid into the passenger’s seat. “How did my mom even call you?” he asked.

“Gave your parents my number for emergencies.”

“…does my mom know her call was interdimensional?”

Peter frowned. “No, why, you think it’s gonna be on the phone bill? More importantly. Where should we grab burgers for lunch?”

 

* * *

 

One weekend, Gwen invited Peter B. and Miles to her favorite coffee shop in her dimension. “Wait here,” she said as the two guys sat down at the table. “Gonna go get us drinks. I’ll be right back.”

Peter grabbed a newspaper from a nearby rack and started flipping through it, briefly scanning the headlines. Man, the news was so _weird_ in other dimensions.

“Hey… Peter,” Miles said.

Peter was busy turning to the comics section. “Yeah?”

“So, let’s say, hypothetically speaking, there was this girl—”

“Ask her on a date, she’ll say yes.”

“I haven’t even told you who she is yet.”

Peter glanced at Miles over his paper. “You mean it isn’t Gwen?”

“I mean—it’s not _not_ Gwen, it’s just—it’s a hypothetical, so, like, the girl isn’t real, you know, I’m just wondering if there _was_ a girl—”

Miles really knew how to make a simple situation complicated.

“Okay, I’m not exactly following,” Peter said, “but, hypothetically if this girl was Gwen, and hypothetically if you asked her out, then I think hypothetically she’d say yes.” He frowned. “Hypothetically. Am I using that word right?”

Miles sighed. “Man, how’d you know it was Gwen?”

After a brief, fierce moment of internal struggle, Peter suppressed the urge to say something snarky. Instead he lay the newspaper on the table and folded his hands. _With great power comes great responsibility_ , he thought, _so I must be the Spider-Yoda to this young Spider-Padawan._

“Kid, you have, without a doubt, the most obvious crush I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

_Okay, so my Spider-Yoda needs some work._

“What are you boys talking about?” Gwen said, as she arrived with a tray of drinks.

“Uh….” Miles stammered.

“Nothing,” said Peter, delicately selecting a cup of coffee. “Just hypotheticals.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Gwen.”

“Yeah?”

“So, they have, like, homecoming at my school coming up.”

“Mhm.”

“And uh… wait a second. You know what homecoming is, right? Like, there’s this dance, and—”

“Miles, they have homecoming in my dimension.”

“Oh, right,” Miles squeaked. “Yeah, of course.”

“Sorry, I interrupted you. You were saying?”

“Well, I was just wondering, if you wanted…” _fghjhuijnvfgvtyhbbgftr COME ON MILES_ “…uh, to come hang out? With me? At homecoming?”

“Oh,” she said. “Like, as your date?”

 _CRAP CRAP CRAP WHAT DO I SAY OH GOD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HELP ME_ “I mean, it can be as friends? It can be a friends thing.” _NO DAMMIT MILES MAN UP_ “…I mean, it doesn’t have to not _not_ be a date…”

“I’ll go,” Gwen said.

Miles paused. “You will?” he asked hopefully.

Gwen leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

Miles felt his brain implode.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “Can’t wait.”


	5. Memories

It was the night of Miles’ homecoming, and he’d asked Peter B. for a favor. Just for the night, would Peter mind guarding New York from the bad guys?

Peter, of course, had agreed. But he’d decided to bring a few friends.

“Peter B. Parker, checking in,” he said into the headset. “You guys all in your spots?”

“This is Spider-Noir. I’m in position.”

“Spider-Ham here. I’ve got eyes over Queens. Seems like a quiet night. Say, Petey B. You’re sure invested in these kids, aren’t you?”

Peter shrugged to himself. “I want to help out Miles, alright? He’s like me, but without all the mistakes.”

“Pete, brother.” Spider-Noir lit a cigarette. “You need to get some hobbies. I recommend fishing. Or writing free-verse poetry in your own blood on the walls outside a deserted subway station, as the cold rain pours down onto you and your oversized trenchcoat.”

“Uh, what?”

 

* * *

 

Music blared from tinny speakers in the school’s dimly lit multi-purpose room, as some middle-aged DJ reluctantly played 00’s throwback songs. There was the smell of fruit punch and body odor.

“Sorry,” Miles said. “Not quite the atmosphere I was hoping for.”

Gwen smiled. She was in a simple blue dress, hair styled in ringlets. “It’s fine,” she said. “I’m happy to be here, with you.” She looked over at the dance floor. “Shall we?”

“Definitely,” Miles said, and followed her as she headed over.

“So, this guy asked me out today,” Gwen said, her voice nonchalant.

“…oh yeah?”

“I told him I already had a boyfriend from another dimension.”

“Oof. How’d he take it?”

“Pretty well, actually.”

It took a second for Miles to register. _Wait a second. Did she just call me… she said…_

Gwen laughed. “Come on,” she said. “You think too much, Spider-Boy. Let’s go dance.”

 

* * *

 

About halfway through the night, Gwen became very reserved, very quiet—almost like she was drawing into herself. It was something that she did sometimes, something Miles had noticed.

She squeezed his shoulder. “Hey, I’ll be right back,” she said.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Her eyes were downcast. “Just need a second.”

He waited for five minutes, fingers nervously drumming against the white tablecloth at their table. He wanted to give her space, didn’t want to seem clingy, but something in his head was telling him to go look for her.

He found her sitting on the roof of the school, overlooking the baseball field. The moon shone brightly above them, a quiet hole in the night sky.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to chase you,” Miles said. “I got worried. You sure everything’s alright? I can leave, if you want.”

“No.” Gwen shook her head. “It’s fine. Stay.”

“You thinking about something?” Miles asked.

She shrugged.

“Whachu thinking about?”

She opened her mouth to speak—closed it again. He sat next to her, swung his legs over, waited.

“I was thinking about my friend Peter, the one from my universe. I saw him die, but in this universe, the Peter here saw the Gwen Stacy die. And I’m wondering what it all means.”

Miles didn’t say anything. He looked down at his hands.

“Sometimes,” Gwen continued. “I feel like it’s not fair, for me to have fun, to enjoy myself like tonight, and just let the story continue without them. It’s like the multiverse might forget they ever existed, if I don’t stop to think about them. Sorry. I know that’s stupid.”

Miles said, “I don’t think that’s stupid.”

They sat on the roof overlooking the baseball field for a while. Not saying anything, just watching, together, and remembering.


End file.
